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Home Buying Resources

On this page, you’ll find a collection of home buying resources that are available online.

The Internet has revolutionized the world of real estate. Home buyers have more information, tools and resources at the their fingertips than ever before. As a result, home buyers are now empowered to do more for themselves than ever before.To help you round out your education, we have created a list of helpful home buying resources and websites.

Housing News Sources

This is our daily reading list. Much of the housing news we report comes from the sources below:

Resources for Finding a Home

When looking for a house to buy, use as many different sources as possible. Read your local newspaper. Keep an eye out for those “For Sale” signs. And of course, use the Internet. Here are some sites to help you with your search:

  • www.Homes.com
  • www.Realtor.com
  • www.realestate.yahoo.com
  • www.HomeFinder.com
  • www.Zillow.com

You should also seek out the websites of real estate agents in your area. You can use Google to find them, simply by entering “homes for sale +your city name.”

Finding Home Values

One of the best ways to validate a seller’s asking price is by researching sales prices from recent transactions. In other words, what are homes selling for in that particular neighborhood? These websites will help you spot pricing trends.

  • www.Zillow.com
  • www.Domania.com
  • www.HomeGain.com (Registration required. Realtors will probably contact you.)
  • www.HouseValues.com (See registration comments above. Same here.)

Mortgage Calculators

Online mortgage calculators are a quick way to determine the approximate monthly mortgage on a particular house, based on the price, the interest rate and the length of loan. Keep in mind these numbers don’t account for closing costs and other variables. Still, they give you a pretty good idea as to where your comfort zone lies, based on monthly payments.

Always use more then one mortgage calculator, to verify the numbers they give you.

  • www.mortgage-calc.com
  • www.bankrate.com
  • www.mortgage101.com/calculators
  • www.interest.com
  • www.homebuyinginstitute.com/calculators.php

Current Interest Rates

Interest rates are one of the ingredients that determine your total monthly payment. Here are some sites that will help you keep up with interest rates. As with everything else, it’s wise to use several different sites to get an accurate overall picture.

  • www.mortgage101.com/rates
  • www.money.cnn.com/rates
  • www.interest.com
  • www.bankrate.com
  • www.compareinterestrates.com

Credit Reports and Scores

We talked about how importance credit scores are to the home buying process. Here are some online resources related to credit scores, credit reports, etc.

Mortgage Information Websites

If you research the pros and cons of different mortgage types, you’ll be able to choose the one that’s best for you. Here are some helpful websites where you can conduct your home-loan research.

Improving Your Credit Score

We have carefully screened the articles that follow to ensure they offer solid advice on how to improve credit scores. So be sure to bookmark this page as a “one stop shop” for advice on improving your credit score.

“How to Raise Your Credit Score Fast”
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/help/2008/11/raise-credit-score-fast.html

“Improve Your Credit Score” – CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/15/debt/q_fivethings_creditscore/

“Tips for Boosting Your Credit Score” – Bankrate.com
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/credit-scoring/20040128a1.asp

“Improving Your FICO Credit Score” – MyFICO
http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/ImproveYourScore.aspx

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